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| + | {{Game Info Box |
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| + | |name=Crackdown |
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| + | |image=Crackdown-cover.png |
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| + | |imageSize=200 |
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| + | |Developer=[[wikipedia:Real Time Worlds|Real Time Worlds]] |
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| + | |Publisher=[[wikipedia:Microsoft Game Studios|Microsoft Game Studios]] |
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| + | |US Date Released=Febuary 20, 2007 |
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| + | |UK Date Released=Febuary 23, 2007 |
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| + | |Genre=[[wikipedia:Action|Action]] |
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| + | |Game modes=[[wikipedia:Campaign Mode|Campaign Mode]], [[wikipedia:co-op|Co-op]] |
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| + | |ESRB=Mature (M) |
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| + | |Platform=[[wikipedia:Xbox 360|Xbox 360]]<BR> |
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| + | |Media=[[wikipedia:DVD|DVD]] |
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| + | |Website=[http://www.crackdown.com Crackdown.com] |
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| + | }} |
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| + | (For information about gameplay, go to the [[Story]] page.) |
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| − | ''Crackdown'' features sandbox-style gameplay similar to that in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, featuring co-op play in the same open environment as in the single-player mode. For example, one can start a race across the rooftops with a friend in cooperative mode. Co-op play can be played online and allows for entrance and exits by friends or other [[Xbox Live]] members. Depending on a player's settings, one can receive join requests from only friends or from everyone online. |
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| ⚫ | '''Crackdown''' (titled '''Riot Act''' in Japan) is an open world, third-person shooter action-adventure video game for the Xbox 360 game console. It was released in North America on February 20, 2007, and worldwide by February 23, 2007. Crackdown was developed by Realtime Worlds, and distributed by Microsoft Game Studios. It was conceived by Realtime Worlds' founder, David Jones, who also created Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings. |
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| − | ''Crackdown'' was released on February 20, 2007 in North America, on February 22 2007 in Japan and Australia, and on February 23 2007 in Europe. Anyone who purchases ''Crackdown'' in any shipment made before June 10th (end of Halo 3 beta) received an automatic entry into the [[Halo 3 Beta]]. However, the game will not be sold in Germany due to the USK's decision to not rate the game.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.gamespot.com/news/6163793.html |title=Germany cracks down on Crackdown |work=Gamespot | publisher=Ziff Davis | author=Tim Surette | date=2007-01-05 | accessdate=2007-03-29}}</ref> |
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| + | Set in the fictional Pacific City, the player controls a cybernetically-enhanced Agent, tasked with defeating three crime lords and their organized crime syndicates. The Agent's abilities improve by defeating both crime lords and their supporters, as well as by completing optional activities, such as street races and scavenger hunts. The gameplay is nonlinear: instead of following a rigid mission sequence, players are free to select the approach to completing their missions and activities. The game features a two-player cooperative play mode via Xbox Live. |
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| − | Realtime Worlds have confirmed that ''Crackdown'' was designed from the outset to be a long running series of games much like ''Grand Theft Auto''. Sequels for the game are very likely to be produced, especially if ''Crackdown'' performs well commercially.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://interviews.teamxbox.com/xbox/1874/Crackdown-Interview/p2/ |title= Crackdown Interview |publisher=IGN | work=teamxbox.com | accessdate=2007-03-29}}</ref> |
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| + | Crackdown, initially planned for release on the original Xbox console, was envisioned as a vast world in which players could experiment and explore freely. Even though this concept was implemented for the Xbox 360 version, play-testers were largely critical of the game, leading Microsoft Game Studios to fear that it would not be well received. To boost sales, Microsoft Game Studios bundled Crackdown with an access code to the multiplayer test version of the much-anticipated Halo 3. At least partially as a result, the game sold 1.5 million copies in its first six months of release. Despite initial concerns, Crackdown received positive reviews and has garnered several awards for its innovative gameplay. |
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| − | == Premise == |
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| − | In ''Crackdown'', players take the role of an [[Agent]], a superhuman Police Officer with a range of superhuman capabilities, developed by a syndicate of law enforcement organizations known only as the [[Agency]]. The Agent's mission is to destroy the 3 organized crime syndicates that control the futuristic metropolis of [[Pacific City]]; the Central American [[Los Muertos]], Eastern European [[Volk]], and East Asian [[Shai-Gen]]. |
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==Plot== |
==Plot== |
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| − | {{Cleanup-section|May 2007}} |
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| + | Crackdown takes place in the fictional metropolis of [[Pacific City]], whose several districts and areas are divided among four islands. The city is controlled by three crime organizations: [[Los Muertos]], of Central American origin; the Eastern European gang, [[Volk]]; [[Shai-Gen]], a megacorporation from East Asia. Normally, a police-like organization called the [[Peacekeepers]] kept the city under control; their forces, however, were overwhelmed by the sudden rise in crime. The city, therefore, sought additional help from "The [[Agency]]", an organization that operated cybernetic soldiers, and is located in the central part of the city. One of these cyborgs, the "Agent", is controlled by the player; he works for The Agency, and is tasked with systematically bringing down all three organized gangs, while keeping both the populace and Peacekeepers safe. The Agent's actions are continuously monitored by The Agency, and its Director, [[Charles Goodwin]] (voiced by Michael McConnohie), provides continuous reports to him of his progress. |
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| − | The game follows the primary character (known only as "The Agent") as he systematically brings down the three organized gangs controlling Pacific City, a near-future city laid out across four islands with several districts and areas within it. The Agency, which the player works for, has taken it upon themselves to restore order in the city, assisting the overstressed [[Peacekeeper]]s who act as police within the city. The Agents from the Agency are superhuman beings, capable of gaining and improving powers such as super-[[Strength Skill|strength]] and [[Agility Skill|agility]], and skill with handling [[Vehicle Skill|vehicles]], [[Firearms Skill|weapons]], and [[Explosive Skill|explosives]]. The player's Agent is informed of trouble in the city and their process in game through "The [[Voice of the Agency]]" that is able to oversee all of the Agent's actions within the game. |
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| + | Upon completing the main game goals, the player succeeds in defeating all three gangs and their Kingpins. In the closing cutscene of the game, The Agency Director reveals to the Agent that there was an ulterior motive for The Agency's actions: The Agency had empowered the three gangs to instill fear in the residents, thus creating a need for The Agency to control the city. The Agency Director's comments suggest that The Agency will replicate this plan in other cities to create a New World Order. The player's Agent then fires one round at the camera, and the game ends. |
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| − | Pacific City has been taken over by three factions (the aforementioned Los Muertos, Volk and Shai-Gen). Each faction has a [[kingpin]] who controls it with the support of several bosses who help maintain the faction by bringing in weapons or recruiting people. At the start of the game, these factions have taken over all of the Agency's safe houses throughout the city, leaving the Agency to work from [[The Keep]], located at the center of Pacific City. Through information gained through exploration and from the Agency, the player's Agent learns of these safe houses and the locations of the factions' gangs and kingpins, and systematically reclaims the Agency's safe houses and takes down the criminal element. At the same time, the Agent must protect the general populace, and violence against either the population or the Peacekeepers is not tolerated, earning the vengeance of the Peacekeepers themselves. |
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| − | Once the Agent has successfully defeated the kingpin of all three gangs, it is revealed in a cut-scene that the primary goal of The Agency was not, in fact, to restore law and order to Pacific City, but to control it themselves, as stated by the "Voice of the Agency": |
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| + | Crackdown is a third-person shooter set in a large sandbox environment, akin to Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.[5] After selecting one of the predefined Agent characters, the player is assigned to defeat the Kingpin of each gang, though there is no precise approach to do this, leaving players to select their preferred method. While the player may face the Kingpin and his bodyguards at any time, they can improve their chances of taking out the Kingpin by facing and defeating the various Generals responsible for certain aspects of the Kingpin's offense and defense, removing them from play.[3] For example, by eliminating a gang's weapon dealer, the Kingpin will lack the use of heavy firepower; assassinating the gang recruitment officer similarly reduces the size of the Kingpin's protective force. It is at the player's discretion whether to kill the Generals or skip them entirely before facing the Kingpin.[3] However, the gangs cannot be completely eradicated from the city without tracking down and killing all Generals and Kingpins.[6] In Crackdown, the Agent can use many super-human powers, including enhanced strength, to defeat his foes. The graphics are made to resemble comic book drawings. |
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| − | <blockquote>"Who do you think supplied Los Muertos? Who do you think turned a blind eye to the Volk's activities? Who do you think was Shai Gen's biggest supporter? Who do you think ran organized law... And ran it into the ground? The people had to experience first hand absolute anarchy before they would accept unconditional control. You are the portent of a new world order, Agent. Pacific City was only the beginning."</blockquote> |
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| + | Much like other sandbox games, the player mainly uses melee attacks, guns, and explosives to fight the opposing forces, and can run, climb buildings, jump across rooftops, or use vehicles to navigate the city. Crackdown features a series of character-based skills that can be upgraded to increase specific traits that can be used in combat, driving, or on-foot agility. These skills include: "Agility", which increases the Agent's ability to jump and run; "Driving", affecting how well he can handle a vehicle; "Explosives", which affects the power of explosive weapons; "Strength" that increases the Agent's strength, namely by increasing his ability to lift and throw, as well as how hard he can strike an opponent; and "Firearms", which improves the character's aptitude with weapons. Crackdown's skills make few concessions to realism: character abilities are similar to those of comic book superheroes or cartoon characters. This concept is further highlighted by the comic book-like graphics. |
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| − | While this is said, security camera footage is shown of the Agency supplying weapons to the Los Muertos, a Volk Scud launcher driving through the Keep, and aiding Shai-Gen. It was the Agency's plan all along to create utter chaos in which the Agency would be requested to help bring down the gangs and earn the silent, unrelenting obedience of the populace. The final voice over suggests that the Agency plans to replicate this same approach in other cities as well. |
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| + | Skills are usually improved by gaining experience orbs, which are released from defeated enemies. The type of orb released varies, depending on how the player dispatched the foe; for instance, killing an enemy with a gun will earn Firearms orbs, while running them over with a vehicle earns Driving orbs. More powerful enemies release more experience orbs. However, Agility orbs are awarded differently: they can be earned by either climbing buildings and seeking them on rooftops, or by killing an enemy from a high altitude. The player can also compete in "rooftop races"—a race through a series of waypoints across the rooftops of Pacific City—or car races to gain Agility and Driving orbs, respectively. A few special orbs, well-hidden, increase all character abilities when found. A final way to collect orbs is by first earning Xbox Live Achievements, which rewards the player with orbs from every skill category. Each skill has five levels,—beginning with zero stars, and ending with four—with a numeric gauge on the display to indicate how close the player is to the next level. Should the character die, or injure civilians or Agency peacekeepers, their experience gain will be slowed, making it temporarily harder to improve the character's traits. |
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| − | The game is set in a large sandbox environment, akin to the video game, ''Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction''. The player must either take out the Kingpin of the dominant gang, or take out the bosses that perform specific tasks for the gang under the Kingpin to weaken the gang's production or the forces immediately protecting the Kingpin, thus making it easier to defeat the Kingpin and increasing the odds of successfully assassinating the Kingpin. It is the player's choice to kill the bosses, or skip them entirely to defeat the Kingpin. This said, the gangs cannot be entirely destroyed unless the player tracks down and kills all the [[General]]s and the Kingpin. |
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| − | The |
+ | The entirety of Pacific City may be explored from the start of the game, allowing the player to locate the hideouts of each General and Kingpin, which can be made easier by accessing supply points scattered around the city. Once a supply point is unlocked, the player has the option of returning there to travel to any other supply point, restock on weapons and ammunition, or drop off newly acquired weapons, to permanently add them to their weapon selection. Should the player die, they can respawn at any open supply point. While exploring, the player is likely to come across enemy resistance, with the aggressiveness based on how badly the player has damaged that particular gang recently, similar to the "wanted level" system for police used in Grand Theft Auto 3. If the player is too aggressive against the non-gang residents of Pacific City, including the Peacekeepers, they are flagged as rogue, and Agency hit squads are dispatched to take them down. |
| ⚫ | Crackdown features an online two-player cooperative play mode that allows drop-in play. Both players may explore the city freely, with the other player's position noted on the HUD map. Players can fight alongside each other, and also inflict friendly-fire damage. The state of the city, including which Generals and Kingpins remain, is determined by the host player's progress. Both players are credited with the defeat of a General or Kingpin in the game,—which will affect the state of the guest's progress—but are required to obtain supply points and gain experience independently. Co-op players can race against each other in both rooftop and road races, should they both choose to participate. |
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| − | Much like other sandbox styled games, the player mainly use guns and explosives to fight the opposing forces, as well as vehicles to get around the city's landscape. Unique to ''Crackdown'' is a series of character based [[skills]] that can be upgraded to increase specific traits that can be used in combat, driving, or on foot agility. Crackdown's skills make few concessions to realism: player abilities are similar to those of comic book superheroes or cartoon characters. This concept is further highlighted by the comic book-like technique used in the game's graphics. These skills are increased by gaining experience orbs. Experience orbs are released from defeated enemies, with the type appearing being primarily based on how the player dispatched the foe. Stronger enemies release more experience orbs. In addition, [[Agility Orb]]s are scattered about the rooftops of Pacific City. There are also [[Hidden Orb]]s that enhance all player abilities. The player can also compete in [[Rooftop Race]]s or [[Road Race]]s to gain agility and driving skill orbs, respectively. Each skill has five levels (from 0 to 4 stars), with a numeric gauge on the display to indicate how close the player is to the next level. If the player should die, or injure civilians or the local authorities, they will lose a small amount of their experience in the progression to the next level. |
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| + | ==Development== |
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| + | Crackdown was envisioned to exceed the gameplay of Grand Theft Auto, giving the player "toys" to create their own in-game moments that could be verbally shared with others.[9] The entire playfield was to be open at the start, requiring the need to create a progression for the player, while still allowing for experimentation. Realtime Worlds had hired a number of former Grand Theft Auto developers who experimented with refining the game's sandbox element. "It was a big part of the idea to just let people do things", Realtime Worlds producer Phil Wilson said about the gameplay; "testers would do things we were completely blown away by". Dave Jones, CEO of Realtime Worlds, described the concept of the game as "How do we reward somebody for just having fun?" They had initially planned to have 200 Xbox Live Achievements for the game towards this purpose, exceeded the then-current cap of 50 set by Microsoft, and pressured Microsoft to lift the cap. Microsoft subsequently increased the maximum number of Achievements in a game to 80. Through playtesting, the team noticed that many players performed certain out-of-the-way actions, such as climbing to the top of the Agency Tower. They created in-game content to reward the player for performing these actions; for example, they created a special rendering procedure for the clouds during the in-game day/night cycle to behave differently each day that could be viewed from atop the Agency Tower. An initial fear of Jones' was that in the early part of the game, when the Agent is underpowered, the player may not realize the potential of the game and would not complete it; "People weren't quite sure, because at that level, you're kind of like most characters in most other games". Jones also expressed concern that "This game does not look good in screenshots". They took two major steps to overcome this. First, the demo for the game on Xbox Marketplace allowed for accelerated growth of the player's abilities. Second, the full game included five in-game movies that would be presented early on to the player that would give them a taste for what a fully-powered character could do. |
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| − | ==Skills== |
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| + | Wilson stated that development of the game began in 2002 with a target release in 2005 on the original Xbox. Nine people were involved in the initial development for twelve months with plans to expand to 35 during full development. By February 2004, they were able to provide a playable demo, but recognized there were still several challenges with the game's progression. For example, the team introduced "skills for kills" where skill points were only rewarded for killing foes instead of allowing the player to gain them by less risky opportunities. They also included the frequent reporting of the player's current chance of success for a player of defeating a Kingpin to prevent the player from being frustrated by trying to fight Kingpins beyond their level. |
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| − | ;'''[[Agility Skill|Agility]]''' |
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| − | :Of the five skills this is the only one that isn't specifically obtained by killing enemies. It is increased mainly by finding some of the agility orbs placed around the map in the game. Agility can also be attained by killing enemies from buildings from great heights (by landing on them, sniping them, etc.), and completing rooftop races in less than the target time. This skill is also notable for being one of the few skills to change the character's physical appearance, in this case changing the [[Avatar (icon)|avatar's]] armor appearance. Increasing this skill's level greatly increases the running speed and jumping height for the player. The first upgrade will allow the user to jump 15 ft into the air. The second upgrade will allow you to jump 20 feet. The third upgrade will allow you to jump 25 ft. The last upgrade gives you running speed that is slightly faster than A.I. controlled cars and the maximum jumping height is around 30 feet. |
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| − | ;'''[[Driving Skill|Driving]]''' |
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| − | :This skill increases the player's control over all of the vehicles in the game. Driving skill is increased by running down gang members in a vehicle, completing vehicle races in under the target time, and performing stunts. In the later levels it can also allow for limited control over a vehicle while it's in the air, by making it roll or do vertical flips. One of the notable focuses in this skill is the character's influence on three select agency cars, which change the vehicle in both terms of cosmetic appearance and power. These changes become drastic at the fourth level where each of the cars gains a unique trait, such as car mounted machine guns, the ability to jump, climb up walls and a large [[nitro]] boost that destroys most oncoming cars on contact. These abilities can only be obtained by choosing an agency vehicle. The supercar features the mounted machine guns, the SUV features a hydraulic action that allows you to jump and climb up walls, and the truck cab allows the driver to gain an extra nitro boost through traffic. |
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| − | ;'''[[Explosives Skill|Explosives]]''' |
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| − | :Training this skill increases the impact radius of all explosives in the game (grenades and rocket/grenade launchers), starting from small explosions to large (15 foot radius) blasts. Along with the larger impact radius comes increased force, and damage inflicted by the explosions. |
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| − | ;'''[[Strength Skill|Strength]]''' |
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| − | :Like the agility skill, increasing your strength skill also changes the character's appearance. The character's muscle mass and height increases drastically, and their face/headgear changes as this skill is trained. Increasing this skill changes how much a character can lift and how far a specific object can be thrown. In the later levels of this skill it is possible to kill an enemy with one kick (depending on difficulty level), kick a car several dozen feet through the air and lift a weight of over 10 tons. Another noteworthy advantage of training the strength skill is the increase of health - with each level gained, another level of health is obtained, adding four extra health bars at level four for a total of five full health bars. |
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| − | ;'''[[Firearms Skill|Firearms]]''' |
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| − | :The firearms skill focuses on damage given by all non-explosive firearms. It also aids in precise targeting speed, decreasing the time needed to completely target an enemy. With specific guns this skill can increase the ability to see and shoot enemies from longer lengths from a first-person perspective. |
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| + | By 2004, Microsoft brought the team the Xbox 360 hardware and suggested moving the game to that system, with a release date in the spring of 2006. By November 2004, the whole of Pacific City was in place, and cooperative mode was possible. However, in January 2005 they switched to the Renderware 4 engine, which caused many problems and was considered a "gross mistake" by Wilson. Microsoft was able to provide additional programmers to help during 2006 to correct the problems, just in time to create a demo for the 2006 E3 Convention. Wilson admitted that when Crackdown was first unveiled, the team thought the game was too early to debut. "By the time we got to the end of pre-production we were woefully understaffed and over budget", Wilson commented. |
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| − | ==Playable demo== |
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| − | A [[Crackdown Demo]] was released via [[Xbox Live Marketplace]] on January 23 2007. It was originally dated for January 18 2007, however it was delayed due to [[Microsoft]]'s certification process.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.xbox.com/en-US/community/news/2006/1221-crackdownoncrimethisfebruary.htm1 |title=Crackdown on Crime this February |publisher=Microsoft | work=xbox.com | accessdate=2006-03-29}}</ref> This demo includes both single player and co-op play. Silver account members received the demo one week later. |
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| + | Microsoft found that by October 2006, the game had fallen into the bottom 30 percent in test player reaction of all games currently in testing, and the bottom 50 percent in interest, though the numbers improved after a month. To help the struggling game, Microsoft decided to package the Halo 3 multiplayer trial with the game. "It was a great boost", said Wilson. Jones also was positive about the tie-in with the Halo 3 trial; "We kind of knew Crackdown would need as much help as it could get to get into players' hands ... Like we've always said: It's a game player's game. It's not something that's going to sell in screenshot. So [the Halo 3 beta] was good". |
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| − | The demo lasts for, at most, 1 hour, with a timer starting when either the player trains a skill to the second level, has eliminated two of the gang bosses, or has been playing for a half hour. At that point a 30 minute timer will start. All of the in game skills can be trained up to the highest level at an accelerated rate. Four bosses of [[Los Muertos]] are possible to take down, but are not required to fight through the length of the demo. The demo allows for online co-op playing, but does not allow for jump-in co-op like in ''[[Gears of War]]''. |
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| − | The ''Crackdown'' demo quickly broke download records for Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace by becoming the most downloaded demo over a 24 hour period and a seven day (week-long) period.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/759/759785p1.html |title=Crackdown Breaks Records |publisher=IGN.com}}</ref> In the week after its release, the ''Crackdown'' demo was the second most played Xbox Live game after ''Gears of War''.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2007/02/03/xbox-live-activity-for-week-of-1-29.aspx |title=Xbox Live Activity for week of 1/29 |publisher=Majornelson.com}}</ref> The demo went on to become the most downloaded and most played overall. [http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=74595] |
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| + | Pacific City within the game consisted of 495 "city blocks" which the player could travel between, according to Microsoft Game Studio's Jami Johns. Each block had to be tested separately, so Microsoft Game Studios designed a software tool to track issues when the game was in testing. For example, the tool was able to identify blocks where the performance dropped or the game crashed, allowing the developers to redesign the area to remove the issues. A further tool was used for the "seams" between city blocks, and included a screenshot just prior to any problem, which significantly reduced the debugging time for the game; this tool was further used with Forza Motorsport 2. However, the team had found some bugs during testing that actually worked well as game mechanics without throwing off the game balance. For example, the ability to drive a vehicle up a vertical wall when the player has maxed out his driving skill was originally a bug within the game. |
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| − | ==[[Halo 3 Beta]]== |
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| ⚫ | Every pre-ordered and specially marked copy of |
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| − | == |
+ | ==Sequel== |
| − | {{unreferenced|section|date=April 2007}} |
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| − | In addition to breaking download records on Xbox Live Marketplace, ''Crackdown'' received positive reviews from such media outlets as ''Official Xbox Magazine'' U.K., ''Electronic Gaming Monthly'', IGN, TeamXbox GamePro, and Famitsu. |
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| + | Wilson and lead designer Billy Thomson had previously confirmed that Crackdown was designed from the outset to be a long running series of games, stating that sequels for the game are very likely to be produced, especially if Crackdown performed well commercially. However, during the Industry All Stars event in September 2007, Wilson confirmed that Realtime Worlds was not working on a sequel to the game, saying "Microsoft [was] a little late in stepping up to the plate to ask for Crackdown 2, and by then we had already started working on bigger, better things". However, Shane Kim, a corporate vice-president for Microsoft, stated that Microsoft still holds the intellectual property rights for Crackdown and that a Crackdown sequel would be coming out July 6th, 2010. It received mixed reviews, being praised for its exploration, orb collecting and four player co-op, but was criticized for its similarities to its predecessor and its storyline. |
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| − | Review scores: |
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| − | *TeamXbox 9.0/10 |
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| − | *[http://www.talkxbox.com/review889.html TalkXbox] 82% |
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| − | *GameTrailers 7.5/10 <ref>http://trailers.gametrailers.com/gt_vault/t_crackdown_vr_gta.mov</ref> |
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| − | *Famitsu 34/40 (Reviewed as Riot Act) |
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| − | *IGN 8.0/10 |
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| − | *''Edge'' 8/10 |
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| − | *''Official Xbox Magazine'' Australia 9/10 |
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| − | *''Official Xbox Magazine'' 7.0/10 |
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| − | *''X-Play'' 5/5 |
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| − | The average score is 83% on Metacritic based on 74 reviews. |
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| + | ==Promotion== |
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| − | Commercially, as of February 12, 2007, ''Crackdown'' ranked 8th on Amazon.com's video game products sales chart, while at Play-Asia.com's Xbox 360 product sales chart, it was ranked at number 4. ''Crackdown'' was listed as a bestseller among online stores, including EBGames.com and GameStop.com.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.punchjump.com/article.php?id=3773 |title=Xbox 360 game Crackdown a top seller online |publisher=Punch Jump}}</ref> |
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| + | A Crackdown demo was released via Xbox Live Marketplace on January 23, 2007. It was originally dated for January 18, 2007, but was delayed due to Microsoft's certification process. This demo includes both single player and co-op play, but does not allow for jump-in co-op as seen in Gears of War. Silver account members received the demo one week later. The demo lasts for, at most, one hour, with a timer starting when either the player trains a skill to the second level, has eliminated two of the gang Generals, or has been playing for a half hour. At that point, a 30 minute timer will start, after which the demo automatically ends. During the demo, in-game skills can be trained up to the highest level, and this occurs at an accelerated rate in order to give players an example of higher-level abilities. The Crackdown demo quickly broke download records for Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace by becoming the most downloaded demo over a 24-hour period and a seven-day (week-long) period. In the week after its release, the Crackdown demo was the second most played Xbox Live game after Gears of War. The demo went on to become the most downloaded and most played overall by March 2007. |
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| − | ===Criticism=== |
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| + | |||
| − | Some commentators have expressed dismay at the moral underpinnings of the game. One magazine review summarizes ''Crackdown'' as a game where "your objective is to murder as many immigrants as possible."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ptdmagazine.com/2007/reviews/crackdown/ | title=Crackdown |publisher=PTD Magazine}}</ref> |
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| ⚫ | Every pre-ordered and specially marked copy of Crackdown included an invitation to beta test the highly anticipated Halo 3. The Crackdown game disc was required to download and launch the Halo 3 beta through the in-game menus. On April 10, 2007, Bungie announced that the beta would become available for download for those that own this copy of Crackdown on May 16, 2007. This beta was playable for three weeks from when it was downloadable. |
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==Downloadable content== |
==Downloadable content== |
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| + | See more at [[Downloadable content#Crackdown|Downloadable content]] |
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| − | On February 19, 2007 a free downloadable pack was made available for the game. The pack includes four new male agents to play as in the game<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.majornelson.com/archive/2007/02/19/crackdown-four-new-agents-free.aspx |title= Crackdown: Four new agents (Free)|publisher=Major Nelson}}</ref>, three of whom have unique, upgradable headgear. |
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| − | A title update was released on May 11, 2007 which allows the player to reset gangs, makes it easier to find orbs, improves stunt ring visibility, enhances targeting and camera angles when driving amongst some other minor fixes and updates. This update also includes a new ground strike attack. <ref>http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1603/Crackdown/p1/</ref> |
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| + | See more at [[Soundtrack|Crackdown Soundtrack]] |
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| + | [[File:Crackdown Main Menu Music Instrumental - (DJ Krush - Paradise Bird Theory) dae4 edit|thumb|center|400 px|Official Crackdown Theme]] |
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| + | ==Reception== |
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| − | In addition to the free title update there were two packs of downloadable content released, one free and one premium. Seven new [[Achievements]] are included with these downloads totaling an extra 350 [[Xbox Live]] Gamerpoints. Some of these achievements are only able to be unlocked if the player has the Premium Pack. |
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| + | The game has been well-received for its long draw distances. |
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| + | {| border="1" width="50%" align="center" |
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| + | |-style="background:#622601;" |
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| + | ! Colspan="2" | Reviews |
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| + | |- |
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| + | ! Publication |
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| + | ! Score |
||
| + | |- |
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| + | | 1UP.com |
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| + | | align="right" | A |
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| + | |- |
||
| + | | Edge |
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| + | | align="right" | 8/10 |
||
| + | |- |
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | | align="right" | 8.3/10 |
||
| + | |- |
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| ⚫ | |||
| + | | align="right" | 9.0/10 |
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| + | |- |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| + | | align="right" | 8.5/10 |
||
| + | |- |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| + | | align="right" | 4.5/5.0 |
||
| + | |- |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| + | | align="right" | 7.8/10 |
||
| + | |- |
||
| + | | GameSpy |
||
| + | | align="right" | 4/5 |
||
| + | |- |
||
| + | | IGN |
||
| + | | align="right" | 8.0/10 |
||
| + | |- |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| + | | align="right" | 7/10 |
||
| + | |- |
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| + | | Play Magazine |
||
| + | | align="right" | 8.5/10 |
||
| + | |- |
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| + | | X-Play |
||
| + | | align="right" | 5/5 |
||
| + | |-style="background:#622601;" |
||
| + | ! colspan="2" | Compilations of multiple reviews |
||
| + | |- |
||
| + | ! Compiler |
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| + | ! Score |
||
| + | |- |
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| + | | Game Rankings |
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| + | | align="right" | 84% |
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| + | |- |
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| + | | Metacritic |
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| + | | align="right" | 83/100 |
||
| + | |} |
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| + | Crackdown received generally positive reviews from game critics who praised the open-world approach. Reviewers commented highly on the graphics of the game, both in its detailed city and large draw distances, and the cel-like shading of the characters; 1UP said that "it's just better to let a game approach reality on its own aesthetic terms than to go hyperrealistic". X-Play stated, "It’s an absolute blast to play, and arguably one of the finest superhero games made thus far", and IGN stated, "Overall the thrill of jumping like a mutant kangaroo from rooftop to rooftop is unrivaled!" The co-op play feature over Xbox Live was well received; Eurogamer wrote, "Being able to pick and leap into any of your friends' or even complete strangers' cities is likely to keep that buzz going though", and 1UP agreed, remarking "That it represents the best, if not the first, online multiplayer sandbox game on a console is just gravy". Reviews did critique the lack of any appreciable story within the game, and how short the core game itself may be; IGN argued "Crackdown won't last that long, it's uneven, and the story and the music are weak sauce". |
||
| − | The recent title update and downloadable content has been linked to a glitch which has reset a number of players saved games when they play co-op. A statement was made on the official Xbox forums which apologised for the glitch and promised to release a fix soon. However, saved games already lost to the glitch are not recoverable. |
||
| − | <ref>http://forums.xbox.com/1/12363492/ShowPost.aspx#12363492</ref> On May 16, 2007, a title update was released, resolving the issue. <ref>http://forums.xbox.com/1/12363492/ShowPost.aspx#12363492</ref> |
||
| − | ===Free-For-All Pack=== |
||
| − | * Keys to the City - Players will be able to spawn ramp trucks, vehicles, and explosive barrels at any time. Characters skill level can be changed and infinite ammunition can be activated as well as god mode, changing and freezing the time of day, super agility and strength, and unlocking all supply points. (Achievements and leaderboards are disabled when in this mode). |
||
| − | * Vehicle Impounding - Players can now commandeer certain vehicles and store them in the Agency garage, along with being able to change their primary color. |
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| − | * Co-op Trophy sequences |
||
| − | * Psychotic Mission Trials |
||
| − | |||
| − | ===Gettin' Busy Bonus Pack=== |
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| − | The Gettin' Busy bonus pack costs 800 [[Microsoft Points]] ($10 USD) and includes: |
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| − | * Three new vehicles: Peacekeeper Buggy, Peacekeeper Race Car, Peacekeeper Armored Vehicle |
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| − | * Four new game types: Max-Agility Rooftop Races, Stockpile, Checkpoint Chase, Rocket Tag |
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| − | * Five new pieces of equipment: MSK Lobber, EX1 “Proximity Charge”, HRX “Harpoon”, MZ360 “Mini-Gun”, VS1 “Cloaking Device” |
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| − | * Street racing: six road races that can be raced against 11 other opponents (including one player over Xbox Live) |
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| − | |||
| ⚫ | |||
| − | :''See: Crackdown [[Soundtrack]].'' |
||
| + | Crackdown was not expected to be a good game, due to it being tied to the anticipated Halo 3 multiplayer beta. However, the game surpassed many expectations; in his review, GameSpy's Gabe Graziani asked readers the rhetorical question; "Notice that I didn't mention the Halo 3 beta offer during this whole article? That's because it's completely irrelevant when looking at Crackdown, it's a solid game that delivers exactly what it promises: a giant sandbox to blow the crap out of". |
||
| − | == References == |
||
| − | {{reflist|2}} |
||
| + | The game was named the 2007 BAFTA "Best Action and Adventure Game" and "Best Use of Audio". and also won the "Best Debut" award at the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards. The game received the Innovation Award at the 2007 Develop Awards, held by Develop magazine. Game Informer listed it as one of the top 50 games of 2007, citing its unique experience and several other elements. They listed the agents as the number eight top heroes of 2007 and climbing the tallest buil |
||
| − | == External links == |
||
| + | [[Category:Crackdown| ]] |
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| − | <!-- |
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| + | [[Category:Game Info]] |
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| − | READ FIRST: External links that do not completely conform to the external link policy should be submitted through the Open Directory Project. Please read up on this by visiting the ODP article and external link policy: |
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| + | [[Category:Games]] |
||
| − | - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Directory_Project |
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| − | - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:External_links |
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| − | --> |
||
| − | * [http://crackdownoncrime.com/ Official website] |
||
| − | * [http://forums.crackdownoncrime.com/ Official forum] |
||
| − | * [http://www.msxbox-world.com/images/features/hidden%20orb%20locations.jpg Hidden Orb Locations Map] |
||
| − | * {{dmoz|Games/Video_Games/Action/C/Crackdown/|Crackdown}} |
||
| − | * [http://www.bluenewworld.com/review.php?articleId=7&page=2 Crackdown at BNW] |
||
| − | * [http://www.eurogamer.net/game.php?game_id=6029 ''Gamepage''] at Eurogamer |
||
Revision as of 02:02, 3 September 2019
(For information about gameplay, go to the Story page.)
Crackdown (titled Riot Act in Japan) is an open world, third-person shooter action-adventure video game for the Xbox 360 game console. It was released in North America on February 20, 2007, and worldwide by February 23, 2007. Crackdown was developed by Realtime Worlds, and distributed by Microsoft Game Studios. It was conceived by Realtime Worlds' founder, David Jones, who also created Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings.
Set in the fictional Pacific City, the player controls a cybernetically-enhanced Agent, tasked with defeating three crime lords and their organized crime syndicates. The Agent's abilities improve by defeating both crime lords and their supporters, as well as by completing optional activities, such as street races and scavenger hunts. The gameplay is nonlinear: instead of following a rigid mission sequence, players are free to select the approach to completing their missions and activities. The game features a two-player cooperative play mode via Xbox Live.
Crackdown, initially planned for release on the original Xbox console, was envisioned as a vast world in which players could experiment and explore freely. Even though this concept was implemented for the Xbox 360 version, play-testers were largely critical of the game, leading Microsoft Game Studios to fear that it would not be well received. To boost sales, Microsoft Game Studios bundled Crackdown with an access code to the multiplayer test version of the much-anticipated Halo 3. At least partially as a result, the game sold 1.5 million copies in its first six months of release. Despite initial concerns, Crackdown received positive reviews and has garnered several awards for its innovative gameplay.
Plot
Crackdown takes place in the fictional metropolis of Pacific City, whose several districts and areas are divided among four islands. The city is controlled by three crime organizations: Los Muertos, of Central American origin; the Eastern European gang, Volk; Shai-Gen, a megacorporation from East Asia. Normally, a police-like organization called the Peacekeepers kept the city under control; their forces, however, were overwhelmed by the sudden rise in crime. The city, therefore, sought additional help from "The Agency", an organization that operated cybernetic soldiers, and is located in the central part of the city. One of these cyborgs, the "Agent", is controlled by the player; he works for The Agency, and is tasked with systematically bringing down all three organized gangs, while keeping both the populace and Peacekeepers safe. The Agent's actions are continuously monitored by The Agency, and its Director, Charles Goodwin (voiced by Michael McConnohie), provides continuous reports to him of his progress.
Upon completing the main game goals, the player succeeds in defeating all three gangs and their Kingpins. In the closing cutscene of the game, The Agency Director reveals to the Agent that there was an ulterior motive for The Agency's actions: The Agency had empowered the three gangs to instill fear in the residents, thus creating a need for The Agency to control the city. The Agency Director's comments suggest that The Agency will replicate this plan in other cities to create a New World Order. The player's Agent then fires one round at the camera, and the game ends.
Gameplay
Crackdown is a third-person shooter set in a large sandbox environment, akin to Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.[5] After selecting one of the predefined Agent characters, the player is assigned to defeat the Kingpin of each gang, though there is no precise approach to do this, leaving players to select their preferred method. While the player may face the Kingpin and his bodyguards at any time, they can improve their chances of taking out the Kingpin by facing and defeating the various Generals responsible for certain aspects of the Kingpin's offense and defense, removing them from play.[3] For example, by eliminating a gang's weapon dealer, the Kingpin will lack the use of heavy firepower; assassinating the gang recruitment officer similarly reduces the size of the Kingpin's protective force. It is at the player's discretion whether to kill the Generals or skip them entirely before facing the Kingpin.[3] However, the gangs cannot be completely eradicated from the city without tracking down and killing all Generals and Kingpins.[6] In Crackdown, the Agent can use many super-human powers, including enhanced strength, to defeat his foes. The graphics are made to resemble comic book drawings.
Much like other sandbox games, the player mainly uses melee attacks, guns, and explosives to fight the opposing forces, and can run, climb buildings, jump across rooftops, or use vehicles to navigate the city. Crackdown features a series of character-based skills that can be upgraded to increase specific traits that can be used in combat, driving, or on-foot agility. These skills include: "Agility", which increases the Agent's ability to jump and run; "Driving", affecting how well he can handle a vehicle; "Explosives", which affects the power of explosive weapons; "Strength" that increases the Agent's strength, namely by increasing his ability to lift and throw, as well as how hard he can strike an opponent; and "Firearms", which improves the character's aptitude with weapons. Crackdown's skills make few concessions to realism: character abilities are similar to those of comic book superheroes or cartoon characters. This concept is further highlighted by the comic book-like graphics.
Skills are usually improved by gaining experience orbs, which are released from defeated enemies. The type of orb released varies, depending on how the player dispatched the foe; for instance, killing an enemy with a gun will earn Firearms orbs, while running them over with a vehicle earns Driving orbs. More powerful enemies release more experience orbs. However, Agility orbs are awarded differently: they can be earned by either climbing buildings and seeking them on rooftops, or by killing an enemy from a high altitude. The player can also compete in "rooftop races"—a race through a series of waypoints across the rooftops of Pacific City—or car races to gain Agility and Driving orbs, respectively. A few special orbs, well-hidden, increase all character abilities when found. A final way to collect orbs is by first earning Xbox Live Achievements, which rewards the player with orbs from every skill category. Each skill has five levels,—beginning with zero stars, and ending with four—with a numeric gauge on the display to indicate how close the player is to the next level. Should the character die, or injure civilians or Agency peacekeepers, their experience gain will be slowed, making it temporarily harder to improve the character's traits.
The entirety of Pacific City may be explored from the start of the game, allowing the player to locate the hideouts of each General and Kingpin, which can be made easier by accessing supply points scattered around the city. Once a supply point is unlocked, the player has the option of returning there to travel to any other supply point, restock on weapons and ammunition, or drop off newly acquired weapons, to permanently add them to their weapon selection. Should the player die, they can respawn at any open supply point. While exploring, the player is likely to come across enemy resistance, with the aggressiveness based on how badly the player has damaged that particular gang recently, similar to the "wanted level" system for police used in Grand Theft Auto 3. If the player is too aggressive against the non-gang residents of Pacific City, including the Peacekeepers, they are flagged as rogue, and Agency hit squads are dispatched to take them down.
Crackdown features an online two-player cooperative play mode that allows drop-in play. Both players may explore the city freely, with the other player's position noted on the HUD map. Players can fight alongside each other, and also inflict friendly-fire damage. The state of the city, including which Generals and Kingpins remain, is determined by the host player's progress. Both players are credited with the defeat of a General or Kingpin in the game,—which will affect the state of the guest's progress—but are required to obtain supply points and gain experience independently. Co-op players can race against each other in both rooftop and road races, should they both choose to participate.
Development
Crackdown was envisioned to exceed the gameplay of Grand Theft Auto, giving the player "toys" to create their own in-game moments that could be verbally shared with others.[9] The entire playfield was to be open at the start, requiring the need to create a progression for the player, while still allowing for experimentation. Realtime Worlds had hired a number of former Grand Theft Auto developers who experimented with refining the game's sandbox element. "It was a big part of the idea to just let people do things", Realtime Worlds producer Phil Wilson said about the gameplay; "testers would do things we were completely blown away by". Dave Jones, CEO of Realtime Worlds, described the concept of the game as "How do we reward somebody for just having fun?" They had initially planned to have 200 Xbox Live Achievements for the game towards this purpose, exceeded the then-current cap of 50 set by Microsoft, and pressured Microsoft to lift the cap. Microsoft subsequently increased the maximum number of Achievements in a game to 80. Through playtesting, the team noticed that many players performed certain out-of-the-way actions, such as climbing to the top of the Agency Tower. They created in-game content to reward the player for performing these actions; for example, they created a special rendering procedure for the clouds during the in-game day/night cycle to behave differently each day that could be viewed from atop the Agency Tower. An initial fear of Jones' was that in the early part of the game, when the Agent is underpowered, the player may not realize the potential of the game and would not complete it; "People weren't quite sure, because at that level, you're kind of like most characters in most other games". Jones also expressed concern that "This game does not look good in screenshots". They took two major steps to overcome this. First, the demo for the game on Xbox Marketplace allowed for accelerated growth of the player's abilities. Second, the full game included five in-game movies that would be presented early on to the player that would give them a taste for what a fully-powered character could do.
Wilson stated that development of the game began in 2002 with a target release in 2005 on the original Xbox. Nine people were involved in the initial development for twelve months with plans to expand to 35 during full development. By February 2004, they were able to provide a playable demo, but recognized there were still several challenges with the game's progression. For example, the team introduced "skills for kills" where skill points were only rewarded for killing foes instead of allowing the player to gain them by less risky opportunities. They also included the frequent reporting of the player's current chance of success for a player of defeating a Kingpin to prevent the player from being frustrated by trying to fight Kingpins beyond their level.
By 2004, Microsoft brought the team the Xbox 360 hardware and suggested moving the game to that system, with a release date in the spring of 2006. By November 2004, the whole of Pacific City was in place, and cooperative mode was possible. However, in January 2005 they switched to the Renderware 4 engine, which caused many problems and was considered a "gross mistake" by Wilson. Microsoft was able to provide additional programmers to help during 2006 to correct the problems, just in time to create a demo for the 2006 E3 Convention. Wilson admitted that when Crackdown was first unveiled, the team thought the game was too early to debut. "By the time we got to the end of pre-production we were woefully understaffed and over budget", Wilson commented.
Microsoft found that by October 2006, the game had fallen into the bottom 30 percent in test player reaction of all games currently in testing, and the bottom 50 percent in interest, though the numbers improved after a month. To help the struggling game, Microsoft decided to package the Halo 3 multiplayer trial with the game. "It was a great boost", said Wilson. Jones also was positive about the tie-in with the Halo 3 trial; "We kind of knew Crackdown would need as much help as it could get to get into players' hands ... Like we've always said: It's a game player's game. It's not something that's going to sell in screenshot. So [the Halo 3 beta] was good".
Pacific City within the game consisted of 495 "city blocks" which the player could travel between, according to Microsoft Game Studio's Jami Johns. Each block had to be tested separately, so Microsoft Game Studios designed a software tool to track issues when the game was in testing. For example, the tool was able to identify blocks where the performance dropped or the game crashed, allowing the developers to redesign the area to remove the issues. A further tool was used for the "seams" between city blocks, and included a screenshot just prior to any problem, which significantly reduced the debugging time for the game; this tool was further used with Forza Motorsport 2. However, the team had found some bugs during testing that actually worked well as game mechanics without throwing off the game balance. For example, the ability to drive a vehicle up a vertical wall when the player has maxed out his driving skill was originally a bug within the game.
Sequel
Wilson and lead designer Billy Thomson had previously confirmed that Crackdown was designed from the outset to be a long running series of games, stating that sequels for the game are very likely to be produced, especially if Crackdown performed well commercially. However, during the Industry All Stars event in September 2007, Wilson confirmed that Realtime Worlds was not working on a sequel to the game, saying "Microsoft [was] a little late in stepping up to the plate to ask for Crackdown 2, and by then we had already started working on bigger, better things". However, Shane Kim, a corporate vice-president for Microsoft, stated that Microsoft still holds the intellectual property rights for Crackdown and that a Crackdown sequel would be coming out July 6th, 2010. It received mixed reviews, being praised for its exploration, orb collecting and four player co-op, but was criticized for its similarities to its predecessor and its storyline.
Promotion
A Crackdown demo was released via Xbox Live Marketplace on January 23, 2007. It was originally dated for January 18, 2007, but was delayed due to Microsoft's certification process. This demo includes both single player and co-op play, but does not allow for jump-in co-op as seen in Gears of War. Silver account members received the demo one week later. The demo lasts for, at most, one hour, with a timer starting when either the player trains a skill to the second level, has eliminated two of the gang Generals, or has been playing for a half hour. At that point, a 30 minute timer will start, after which the demo automatically ends. During the demo, in-game skills can be trained up to the highest level, and this occurs at an accelerated rate in order to give players an example of higher-level abilities. The Crackdown demo quickly broke download records for Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace by becoming the most downloaded demo over a 24-hour period and a seven-day (week-long) period. In the week after its release, the Crackdown demo was the second most played Xbox Live game after Gears of War. The demo went on to become the most downloaded and most played overall by March 2007.
Every pre-ordered and specially marked copy of Crackdown included an invitation to beta test the highly anticipated Halo 3. The Crackdown game disc was required to download and launch the Halo 3 beta through the in-game menus. On April 10, 2007, Bungie announced that the beta would become available for download for those that own this copy of Crackdown on May 16, 2007. This beta was playable for three weeks from when it was downloadable.
Downloadable content
See more at Downloadable content
Soundtrack
See more at Crackdown Soundtrack
Crackdown Main Menu Music Instrumental - (DJ Krush - Paradise Bird Theory) dae4 edit
Official Crackdown Theme
Reception
The game has been well-received for its long draw distances.
| Reviews | |
|---|---|
| Publication | Score |
| 1UP.com | A |
| Edge | 8/10 |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 8.3/10 |
| Eurogamer | 9.0/10 |
| Game Informer | 8.5/10 |
| GamePro | 4.5/5.0 |
| GameSpot | 7.8/10 |
| GameSpy | 4/5 |
| IGN | 8.0/10 |
| Official Xbox Magazine | 7/10 |
| Play Magazine | 8.5/10 |
| X-Play | 5/5 |
| Compilations of multiple reviews | |
| Compiler | Score |
| Game Rankings | 84% |
| Metacritic | 83/100 |
Crackdown received generally positive reviews from game critics who praised the open-world approach. Reviewers commented highly on the graphics of the game, both in its detailed city and large draw distances, and the cel-like shading of the characters; 1UP said that "it's just better to let a game approach reality on its own aesthetic terms than to go hyperrealistic". X-Play stated, "It’s an absolute blast to play, and arguably one of the finest superhero games made thus far", and IGN stated, "Overall the thrill of jumping like a mutant kangaroo from rooftop to rooftop is unrivaled!" The co-op play feature over Xbox Live was well received; Eurogamer wrote, "Being able to pick and leap into any of your friends' or even complete strangers' cities is likely to keep that buzz going though", and 1UP agreed, remarking "That it represents the best, if not the first, online multiplayer sandbox game on a console is just gravy". Reviews did critique the lack of any appreciable story within the game, and how short the core game itself may be; IGN argued "Crackdown won't last that long, it's uneven, and the story and the music are weak sauce".
Crackdown was not expected to be a good game, due to it being tied to the anticipated Halo 3 multiplayer beta. However, the game surpassed many expectations; in his review, GameSpy's Gabe Graziani asked readers the rhetorical question; "Notice that I didn't mention the Halo 3 beta offer during this whole article? That's because it's completely irrelevant when looking at Crackdown, it's a solid game that delivers exactly what it promises: a giant sandbox to blow the crap out of".
The game was named the 2007 BAFTA "Best Action and Adventure Game" and "Best Use of Audio". and also won the "Best Debut" award at the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards. The game received the Innovation Award at the 2007 Develop Awards, held by Develop magazine. Game Informer listed it as one of the top 50 games of 2007, citing its unique experience and several other elements. They listed the agents as the number eight top heroes of 2007 and climbing the tallest buil